S.F. cabbie attacks fare with tire iron

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An enraged taxi driver beat up his rider with a tire iron in San Francisco’s Polk Gulch neighborhood early Wednesday, police said.

The cabbie was driving his fare to Filbert Street and Van Ness Avenue at 12:15 a.m. when the two got into an argument, police said. Originally the passenger was angry that the driver was talking on his cell phone, and the argument turned to a dispute about the fare price, police said.

When they arrived at the destination, the driver got out and struck the passenger in the face with a tire iron before driving off, police said.

The victim, a 25-year-old man, was treated at San Francisco General Hospital for an eye injury and a cut to the face. The cabbie remains at large, police said. Officer Carlos Manfredi, a police spokesman, said he did not know which cab company owned the taxi.

Just 24 hours earlier in the Mission District, a taxi driver was on the other end of an assault.

In that incident, three passengers were riding to 18th and Valencia streets around 1 a.m. Tuesday when one began choking the Luxor Cab driver, a 58-year-old man, police said. The driver pulled over and everyone got out except the man who had been doing the choking — he hopped into the driver’s seat and drove a block before crashing into another car.

The alleged choker, a 47-year-old man, was arrested. His name has not been released. The cabbie was treated for neck pain at San Francisco General Hospital.